An act of kindness never goes amiss, especially on Valentine’s Day.
Earlier this year, on February 14, Lake City Secondary’s woodwork teacher Andrew Hutchinson and his industrious students delivered 64 Mountain Bluebird houses to the Williams Lake Field Naturalists for our Mountain Bluebird Program.
One student in particular—Sam Holmes—did much of the work. Using an ingenious jig to hold the pieces in place, Sam swiftly and accurately glued and nail-gunned the walls and floor together, leaving only the door and roof to be screwed on later.
Back in 1978, the first nest boxes were quite simply four fixed walls, a floor, and a small roof.
The walls were made of narrow fence boards which created a tall, cramped nesting cavity.
The roof was attached with a single screw which, unfortunately, often let go, resulting in an exposed nest. To clean a box, one had to remove the roof and reach inside. Personally, I could barely open my hand once it was inside the box. As a result, I had to claw the nest off of the floor. It was nearly impossible to fully clean one of these original boxes. Collecting data on eggs and young was also difficult.
When my wife and I agreed to manage one of the Becher’s Prairie routes in 1988, quite a few of these original boxes were still providing effective cavities for Mountain Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, and Mountain Chickadees, a testament to their durability. In 2017, however, fire raced across the prairie, burning nearly every box on our route, original or otherwise. So, we replaced them with houses like the ones built by the students at LCSS.
For the route managers who clean out the old nests and gather data on young birds, the new design is much improved over the original. The front of the box opens like a drawbridge, giving ready access to a gloved hand or a scraper, and the old nest is quickly removed.
When a fresh nest contains eggs or young, the open front offers a clear view so that the manager can collect breeding data with minimal disturbance. I cannot say for sure how the birds feel about the changed design, but I imagine they approve. The nesting cavity is more spacious, the box allows for ventilation, and the roof rarely flies off in a strong gale. Unfortunately, these improved boxes cost more to build. But not this year.
It was while reading an article in the Efteen about how Andrew Hutchinson wants his students “to build things around the city,” I considered asking him for help. The Bluebird Program was low on houses, and increasing our supply seemed more challenging than usual. So, I approached Andrew and, without hesitation, he agreed that this would be an excellent project for his class.
In February, the students loaded 64 boxes into my pick-up, I did a mental calculation: $1.85 per box—76 cents less than it cost to build a fence-board house in 1978. Mr. Hutchinson, Sam Holmes, and everybody who helped, you are all heart. Thank you. And thank you to all of the volunteers who have kept the Bluebird routes in good repair over the last 46 years.
Amateur birder Loyd Csizmadia currently coordinates the Mountain Bluebird Program on behalf of the Williams Lake Field Naturalists. To become a member of the Williams Lake Field Naturalists, pick up an application at the Scout Island Nature Center, or contact Sue Hemphill at shemphill@xplornet.com. Applications are also available on our web site: https://williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca/
